All Good Things May Not Come to Those Who Wait: Lyons and others

DOI10.1177/136571270200600303
Published date01 July 2002
Date01 July 2002
AuthorLoveday Hodson
Subject MatterCase Note
CASE
NOTE
All
good
things may not come to those
who wait:
Lyons
and
others
By
Loveday
Hodson
University
of
Warwick
his unsuccessful appeal to the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal
concerns the right against compulsory self-incrimination and raises
important questions about the role
of
domestic courts in protecting
fundamental rights. Although the absolute nature of the right to silence and
the right against compulsory self-incrimination have long been the subject of
heated academic debate in the United Kingdom, the court in this case appears
to have accepted the finding of the European Court of Human Rights that the
facts gave rise to a violation of the appellants’ right to a fair trial.’ The essential
issue was, therefore, whether
or
not the appellants could obtain relief for
this violation of their right to a fair trial, which occurred before the coming
into force of the Human Rights Act
1998,
in the domestic courts. Two grounds
of appeal are of significant interest. The first was whether the Court of Appeal
was obliged to quash the original convictions on the basis of the United
Kingdom’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights,
pursuant to an adverse judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.
The second question was whether a trial judge could exercise his power to
exclude evidence under
s.
78
of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act
1984
(PACE) on the ground that it infringed the defendants’ right against
compulsory self-incrimination, when the evidence in question was clearly
intended to be admissible by the legislator. It is argued that the Court of
Appeal’s decision on the second question was unsatisfactory.
~
1
Had this issue been discussed
fully by
the
Court
of
Appeal,
the answer
might
not
have been
so
clear-cut.
178
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE
&
PROOF

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